"Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show" is a song written and recorded by Neil Diamond which appeared as the opening track on the eponymous album. Released as a single in early 1969, it hit number 22 on the U.S. pop singles chart.

Background

The song tells the story of Brother Love, an evangelist who travels from town to town preaching. In the middle of the song, Diamond gives a

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. ...

in typical evangelical style. The original 45 mix of the title cut differs from the album version. Aside from being in mono, extra reverb is used throughout the whole song. Neil Diamond's voice was overdubbed onto the lead vocal, creating a harmony. A tubular bell part were added following the phrase "Take my hand in yours...". The fade-out of the song is longer, with a louder horn section and a rattling tambourine part. All of Diamond's CD compilations have used the album mix. '' Billboard'' described the single as a "powerful piece of rhythm material with a potent lyric." ''

The New Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' calls "Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show" "genuinely demented."

Other versions

In 1969, Peggy Lee sang a cover version of the song on her Grammy-awarded album '' Is That All There Is?''.

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

has performed the song on numerous occasions, including on her 1976-77

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp ...

, as during her 1983 concert at London's

Dominion Theatre The Dominion Theatre is a West End theatre and former cinema on Tottenham Court Road, close to St Giles Circus and Centre Point, in the London Borough of Camden. Planned as primarily a musical theatre, it opened in 1929, but the following year ...

, which was later broadcast as the TV special ''Dolly in London''.

Sonny & Cher Sonny & Cher were an American pop and entertainment duo in the 1960s and 1970s, made up of husband and wife Sonny Bono and Cher. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector. The pair f ...

covered it on '' Mama Was a Rock and Roll Singer, Papa Used to Write All Her Songs''.

David Spade David Wayne Spade (born July 22, 1964) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, television host, and writer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' in the 1990s, and he later began an acting career in both film and television. He also s ...

lip-synched, and then sang the song while imitating Neil Diamond in his 1999 film '' Lost & Found''. Country group The Wright Brothers Band did a cover version of the song, changing "Take my hand in yours" to "Take my hand, dear Lord." In 2019, the song was used in the trailer for the film '' Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'', as well as in the film itself, and is included on the films

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

References

{{authority control 1969 singles Songs written by Neil Diamond Neil Diamond songs 1969 songs Song recordings produced by Chips Moman Obscenity controversies in music Uni Records singles Peggy Lee songs Christianity in popular culture controversies Religious controversies in music